An update to the Nintendo Switch Online app should be a little nicer to your smartphone’s battery.
The app, required to participate in voice chat, has been updated to run in the background of your smartphone. Previously, the app needed to be up and running — at all times — in order to maintain a voice connection. That meant no switching to Twitter or to your favourite browser of choice to read Stevivor’s excellent video game news.
Here are all the notes from the app’s 1.1.0 update:
- Voice chat will now continue when other apps are opened.
- Voice chat will now continue during sleep mode.
- Improved support for Bluetooth devices. (For Android devices only.)
“If the power-saving feature is activated on devices using Android 6.0 or later, voice chat may be interrupted after the device has entered sleep mode,” the update notes advise. “To use voice chat during sleep mode, go to Other Settings > Power Saving Settings in the app and deactivate battery optimization on the Android device. For more details, please refer to the official website for your smart device.”
Feel free to read news as you queue in a Splatoon 2 lobby.
Are you excited about this change? Do you use the app for voice chat on Switch, or do you resort to other means like Discord?
The app is available now on iOS and Android phones.
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